Should the Hebrew midwives be commended for lying?

There were many faults in the deceitful and timid way in which Jacob returned to Canaan, but he did proceed thither when God told him; and here we see that a right act may be done in a wrong way, which is certainly better than not at all. It was right of him to go to Canaan, but wrong to tell falsehoods, copious and fluent, on the way. The same principle applies to many other of the notable actions of scripture: it was right of Rahab to hide the spies, and of Shiphrah and Puah to save the male children of Israel; but if they had had the faith and courage to do so without telling deliberate untruths, God would have upheld them. We find that the deed is often approved though the manner of its doing is not; and here is an important lesson: a good deed may be done in a faulty way, and we certainly should — as God has done — approve the action and not let the manner of it blind us to its virtue. There is it great deal too much adverse criticism from people who never do anything on those who are in active service, because these latter do not shape all their methods to meet the approval of the former. The old school of German strategists found perpetual fault with Bonaparte, because he did not fight according to their conventional rules; but he kept on winning the battles somehow, and that was the great thing after all. But now Christ is revealed, and all evil is judged in His cross; and He reigns in our life. Let us, therefore, strive to eschew all wrong and to do right things in the right way, for feeble minds are unable to distinguish these things, being stumbled and hindered by our inconsistencies.

The king then conceived the wicked plan of demanding that Hebrew midwives must kill every boy at the time of birth and keep the girls alive (vv. 15-16). But the midwives, because their fear of God was greater than their fear of the king, did not obey the king's cruel commandment (v. 17). The king called the midwives to account for this disobedience, for which they have a good answer to the effect that Hebrew children were already born before the parents called a midwife: therefore the mother knew the child was alive. (vv. 18-19).

Because of the faith of the midwives in thus putting the fear of God first, God further increased the population of Israel by providing households for the midwives (v. 21), that is, giving them children.

Frustrated in his efforts, the king of Egypt takes more drastic action, commanding all his people (the Egyptians) that they should interfere in the Hebrews' households, to throw into the river every Hebrew boy who was born, allowing the girls to live. This reminds us of Herod's decree that all the boys under two years of age in the area of Bethlehem were to be put to death (Matt. 2:16). Satanic hatred was behind this in both cases, working by means of men's jealous lust for power and authority, but neither succeeded in destroying the child that God had destined as Israel's deliverer.

The closing verses of this section of our book present an edifying lesson in the conduct of those God-fearing women, Shiphrah and Puah. They would not carry out the king's cruel scheme, but braved his wrath, and hence, God made them houses. "Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." (1 Sam. 2:30) May we ever remember this, and act for God, under all circumstances!

The attempt to destroy all the male children follows next. Satan, who is a murderer from the beginning, manifested his cunning and power in this way. He desired to destroy the seed of Abraham so as to make the coming of the Promised One impossible. The murder of Abel was his first attempt. Here is an attempt on a larger scale, which was followed by many others. See Exodus 14, 2 Chron. 21:4, 17; 22:10; Esther 3:6, 12, 13; Matt. 2, etc. Throughout the history of Israel during this age Satan has made repeated attempts to exterminate this wonderful people, because he knows God's purpose concerning their future. His final attempt is recorded in Rev. 12.

Pharaoh was the instrument of Satan, and is a type of him. Blessed is the record of the faithful Hebrew midwives. They were pious women. Satan tried to use woman again for his sinister purposes, but he failed. Later we find that the wicked Pharaoh was defeated by the faith of a Hebrew mother and by the loving kindness of his own daughter (chapter 2). And God rewarded the actions of these women. They received honors; their families increased and were blest. When Pharaoh saw his attempt frustrated he appealed to his own people to commit wholesale murder. They began to sow an awful seed; the harvest came when years later there was no house in Egypt without one dead, when the firstborn were slain. Galatians 6:7 applies also to nations, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap." God honored the Hebrew midwives because they honored Him. The retribution came upon cruel Egypt in God's own time.

In Acts 15 and Galatians, we see the enemy at work, endeavouring to entice the saints into unprofitable labour, unworthy of those who have been delivered out of this present evil age. In building the store cities of Pharaoh, which were used to provision his army, the children of Israel were but riveting the chains of slavery more firmly on themselves. The enemy in seeking to hinder the increase and prosperity of the children of Israel, gave his commands to the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, but these faithful women disobeyed the king, because they "feared God." Because they "feared God," they were prospered by Him.

The Hebrew Midwives in Egypt (Exodus 1:15-17)

The first women that I want to speak about are the midwives in Exodus 1. The king had passed laws that all the male children of the Israelites were to be slain, and it took a great deal of courage to go against the authority of the king. Killing all the male children would destroy the nation, but these midwives "feared God" (v.17). They accepted the authority of God above the authority of the king, and this has always been so in the history of the testimony, whether in the Old Testament or in the New, that while there is an authority that we bow to where it is legitimate and right and proper, there is a higher authority that we bow to, the authority of God.

These women feared God and they protected the male children. When the nation grew strong it was partly because of their efforts and the power that God gave in protecting them. Dear sisters, what an encouragement to pray for and to protect the children that grow up amongst us, to teach them, to give them an example, to help them in the things of God, because that is what I believe is involved for us. They were protected from the wrath of the king, they were protected from the cruel law and they were protected for God that they might represent Him.

Thank God for the Christian homes where the things of God are maintained, where the children are taught and grow up in an atmosphere where they learn to fear God and stand for the things that are really worthwhile. Thank God there are many such homes. So we look for midwives, midwives who are courageous and do not fear the wrath of the king, but who are prepared to protect the children and help them and be a blessing to them.

"And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one [was] Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah; and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife [or, help in bearing] to the Hebrew women, and see [them] upon the birth-stool, if a son, then ye shall kill him; but if a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said to them, Why have ye done this, and saved the male-children alive? And the midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women [are] not as the Egyptian women; for they are strong, and they have borne before the midwife cometh to them. And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. And it came to pass because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, but every daughter ye shall save alive" (vers. 15- 22).

Such an instance as this, and as Herod's in dread of Messiah's birth, could so exceed the ordinary evil ways of man as to remind one of the hidden wicked one, the old Serpent and the Devil, and his enmity to the woman's Seed from first to last of man's day; whose blindness becomes the deeper because he ignores the secret power that works behind the scenes of the world's sad history. How little its rulers, any more than its classes and masses, believe that he is the spring that actuates the sons of disobedience, slaves of a mightier rebel than themselves! For here is a conflict unceasing between the arch-enemy instigating to destruction the first man against the Second and those dear to Him, till the last war whether above to clear the heavenly places (Rev. 12), or the earth enters for the displayed kingdom (Rev. 19), or the final judgment and eternity (Rev. 20, Rev. 21:1-8). All other wars generally are petty in comparison, springing from ambition, revenge, or other depraved lusts. We may except such as may have typified on a small scale those immensely momentous events for the deliverance of man and the creation from Satan's thraldom, for God's glory in His purpose of exalting the Christ and all that are His in the heavens and on the earth in the highest, largest, and richest way, and alas! too in the destructive punishment of all His enemies.

Here it is but a dastardly and diabolical effort to thwart what God was doing with the sons of Israel, even through the midwives for the male-children. But it was frustrated by the fear of God in the midwives, whom God established in their houses, as they refused the perfidy and the murder the wicked king commanded.

The rest of the chapter (vv. 15-22) is taken up with a description of another attempt to enfeeble, and in time to destroy, the children of Israel. But again there is the activity of another on their behalf. Pharaoh was an absolute king, and none of his subjects dared to oppose his will; but even these feeble women are sustained in their disobedience, because they judged it their first duty to fear God. The mightiest monarch in the world is powerless as against God, and equally so against those who are identified with God and His people. Hence Shiphrah and Puah "did not as the king of Egypt commanded" (v. 17), and God dealt well with them, and because they feared God, He made them houses. (vv. 17-21.) "If God be for us, who can be against us (Rom. 8:31.) We may therefore learn, first, the utter impotence of the enemy to frustrate the purposes of God; secondly, the invincibility of those who are connected with His purposes; thirdly, how the fear of God can lift the feeblest and humblest above the fear of man; and then, last of all, how grateful to the heart of God is every sign of fidelity to Him in the midst of a scene where Satan reigns, as the god of this world, and oppresses and seeks to destroy His people.

But Pharaoh's enmity increases, and he "charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive." (v. 22.) The next chapter will show us how God used this very decree of the king to prepare a deliverer for His people.

It is always thus. There is ever war between God and the enemy, and nowhere does it rage so hotly as where His people are concerned, and when a distinct manifestation of divine mercy is imminent. God's approaching favour to Israel drew out the enmity of Satan, who stirred up a suited instrument for his malice in the prince of the world of that day, 'another king who knew not Joseph'. The verses are a pithy summary of Ex. 1:7-20, which gives the details of Pharaoh's wily, aggressive, and unscrupulously cruel efforts to depress, yet just as signally to be defeated of God, for, say or do what he might, 'the people multiplied and waxed very mighty'. The edict to destroy the males failed, not only through human pity, but through the fear of God, Who honoured those who honoured Him, and brought to naught His adversaries.

One of the midwives who preserved the male Hebrew children, contrary to the commandment of the king. Ex. 1:15.